OPP costing decision will be made by year's end: Boddy

Mayor Ian Boddy says he expects city council will make its decision about the future of policing in Owen Sound by year's end.

The OPP is planning to present its costing proposal to police Owen Sound, which council requested 20 months ago, to a city working group on Sept. 12.

The document will then be analyzed by the city's consultants, Levack Management Consulting, which is to present a report to council.

“We hope to make a decision before the end of December,” Boddy said in an interview.

“We want a make a decision so we can move on no matter what but, at the same point, we don't want to rush the decision.

“We want to look at the numbers carefully, we want to look at them objectively – not get too caught up in the rhetoric – and really look at what services are being provided for what dollars and make an appropriate decision.”

Owen Sound council voted back in January 2016 to seek the costing from the OPP. The request followed an announcement that council would undertake a review of nearly all other services in the city to see if they are being run as efficiently as possible.

Councillors who supported the motion said it was not a slight against Owen Sound's current municipal police service, but council just wanted to ensure city taxpayers are getting the best value possible.

In July, members of the Owen Sound Police Association expressed concerns to city council with how long it was taking the OPP to present its costing proposal.

Vice-president Brent Down said the drawn-out process is having a negative impact on the “health and wellness” of the association's members.

Boddy noted the time it has taken for the OPP costing to be prepared and presented to council has been out of the city's control.

“We were going to ask for a costing very early in this council term and the OPP quit considering any costings because they wanted to re-look at how they were doing them,” he said.

By the time the city was able to request the proposal, Owen Sound was already the 10th or 11th municipality in line.

“So they had to work through those; some of them maybe dropped out. We knew it was going to take time,” he said.

City manager Wayne Ritchie told The Sun Times that the working group – which includes Boddy, Coun. Brian O'Leary and a few city staff members – will receive analytic support, if needed, from Levack Management Consulting when it is presented with the OPP costing next month.

The consultants will then conduct a detailed analysis of the proposal and provide an “apples-to-apples comparison” between the service proposed by the OPP and the one currently provided by the Owen Sound Police Service. That process is expected to take about two months, Ritchie said.

“The goal is to make sure that the police service that's offered to the citizens of Owen Sound is effective, which we currently believe it is, and is also, from a cost-comparison basis, in line with what other communities in Ontario have for costs for police services,” Ritchie said.

The city currently spends $7.4 million a year – or one-quarter of Owen Sound's total operating budget – on policing.